-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka rallied from a set and 4-0 down to unseeded Italian Alberta Brianti as she eventually emerged into the second round of the French Open on Monday .

The 22-year-old looked like she would achieve the unwanted feat of becoming the first top-seeded player to lose in the opening round at Roland Garros in the Open era .

But after Brianti moved to within two games of a landmark victory Azarenka , from Belarus , won 12 of the next 14 to finally earn a clash with Germany 's Dinah Pfizenmaier .

`` I was kind of thinking there was a flight straight to Minsk around 3pm tomorrow , so I could catch that , '' Azarenka told the WTA Tour 's official website . `` But I did n't want to leave too soon .

Courting China : Li Na leaps up sport 's rich list

`` I think it was maybe a mix of things , '' Azarenka added of her below-par opening to the tournament .

`` I was waiting a long time for my first match here , so I could n't wait to get out there . Maybe I was rushing too much to finish the points .

`` Plus I also have to give Alberta a lot of credit , she played really well , and she pushed me to dig deep today . Bad days happen . The important thing is how I came out of it . ''

Defending champion Li Na , from China , had no such difficulties as she eased into round two with a regulation 6-2 6-1 victory over Romania 's Sorana Cirstea .

The 30-year-old became the first Asian winner of a grand slam singles title at last year 's event and is aiming to become the first woman since Belgium 's Justine Henin in 2007 to successfully defend her crown .

`` I 'll just try my best , '' she told reporters . `` It 's tough for me to stay at the same level all the time . '' Li will now face France 's Stephanie Foretz Gacon in the next round .

Polish third seed Agnieszka Radwanska sped to a 6-1 6-0 win over Serbia 's Bojana Jovanovksi in just 49 minutes and will now face seven-time grand slam winner Venus Williams in round two .

Home favorite and No. 8 seed Marion Bartoli progressed into the second round with a 6-3 6-3 win over Czech qualifier Karolina Plizkova .

But Russian 11th seed Vera Zvonareva withdrew from the tournament on Monday morning with a right shoulder injury .

Sabine Lisicki , the No. 12 seed from Germany , slumped to a surprise 6-4 6-3 defeat to America 's Bethanie Mattek-Sands .

There were also victories on Monday for Slovakia 's Dominika Cibulkova , Serbia 's Jelena Jankovic , Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic and Italy 's No. 17 seed Roberta Vinci .

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World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka survives huge scare in French Open first round

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Azarenka goes one set and 4-0 down before fighting back to beat Alberta Brianti

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Defending champion Li Na enjoys smooth passage through to round two

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Vera Zvonareva , the number 11 seed , pulls out of tournament through injury